A Midsummer Night's Dream, Smock Alley

Following on from their last visit to Dublin with Twelfth Night, Purplecoat have returned, this time with a double bill in store. Last night was A Midsummer's Night Dream, transferring the action to the modern world of offices and sales, and the woods gets moved to the clubs and nightlife. Using a soundtrack that ranges from Hi Ho Silver Lining to Step's Tragedy and even Elvis's Are You Lonesome Tonight?, this delivers a bawdy, chaotic and highly visual ride through Shakespeare's play.

The tale of love, changes and, in this production, definitely disorder, unfolds where Hermia wants to marry Lysander, although this is not the preferred option, Demetrius is. Not wanting this, Hermia and Lysander elope. An impressive Helena hears of it and discusses whether to tell or not. They leave for the woods, or in this case, maybe helped by the opening act two video projected on the wall, they leave for the revelry of night clubs, where love juice can take on another meaning. There is a feeling of everything being a bit unclear in the beginning, but thankfully this sorts itself out.

Alongside this is the parallel fairy universe, with an excellent, if slightly off centre, Oberon, dressed something like Batman, gets Puck, dressed as Robin (a nice touch) to find the flower that when squeezed into the eye of a sleeping person, on waking will fall in love with the next thing they see. It is to teach Titania a lesson. But when the revelling real world people annoy Oberon, he gets Puck to squeeze the love potion into Demetrius's eyes as well, but Puck mixes them up and all manner of madness ensues.

The acting troupe of the piece, The Mechanicals, who take a few swings at actors in general through a quirky Bottom, play a solid and odd crew, with wonderful expressions from The Joiner, Snug, against a very flippant and breezy Quince. The final play within a play features a wonderful outlandish death scene by Bottom.

Purplecoat do like to swap roles and have women playing men's roles, a twist on Shakespeare time, but it works well here, without missing a beat. As a group they work very well together, and it must be remembered that on alternate nights of the run they will also be performing Hamlet, a big challenge for a young group. 

It was somewhat manic in the beginning, clarity suffering a little, but there is a lot of physical comedy and moves on the raised stage of the Boy's School. Imagery with the wild costumes are great particularly with Lysander with a face full of canned cream. The first act ending with a pumping Steps, that felt a little bit like Mamma Mia, was perfect. The second act feels more solid than the first, the opening video setting the scene and then the chaos that ensues as a night of merriment goes too far and it all falls apart, leaving people a little broken, ends with a very touching moment from Hermia.

In all, it is a very bawdy night, that takes a little time to get on its feet, but when it does it is a very crazy and idiosyncratic ride that you are taken on. But it is great to see a young group taking on this challenge and doing it in their own unique way. It is most definitely a trip for the senses.